Animorphs Generation Two-The Effect (Revised)
by Glittering Pegasus
Summary: Twenty seven years after the fatal walk through the construction site, and now history is repeating itself...
1. Prologue

Disclaimer: Animorphs is owned by KA Applegate  
  
A/N: I first put this story on this site over the summer, but I looked at it again and it was really messed up so I decided to edit it and upload it again. Lol.  
  
Animorphs Generation Two: The Effect  
  
Prologue  
  
My name is Clarissa. Clarissa Berenson. That's right. Berenson. I know what you're thinking. And yes, it's the same Berenson. My father is Jake Berenson, the former leader of the Animorphs.  
  
The year is 2024. I'm 13 years old. I've known all my life about my father's adventures as an Animorph, but I never really understood. Not until a particular Friday night when I happened to be at the mall with my best friend. And we hooked up with three of our other friends and decided to take a shortcut home. Sound familiar? It should. Anyway, I think you should get ready and be careful, because history is about to repeat itself. Literally. 


	2. Chapter One Clarissa

A/N: As I mentioned before, this was my first fan fiction written a while ago. Almost a year now. I wasn't familiar with fan fiction yet, so I made all the chapters very short. Sorry bout that. :-)  
  
Chapter One  
  
*~Clarissa~*  
  
"Come on, admit it," I urged my best friend Alexia as we headed towards Old Navy.  
  
"Alright, alright! I like Nick!" As soon as the words had escaped from her lips, her hand flew over her mouth and her pale cheeks blushed to a bright pink. I smiled. Alexia can't keep anything from me. I know her too well.  
  
Alexia's been my best friend since I was two. She's medium height and has pale skin and dark blonde hair. Her eyes are this odd color of green blue, with hazel-ish flecks near the center. She is kind of quiet and shy, but she has this way about her that seems to make everyone want to be friends with her.  
  
Even though we're best friends, we don't have tons of things in common. I have dark brown hair and grayish blue eyes. My skin is kind of tan, but naturally. I'm not a lay-out-in-the-sun-for-hours type girl. I'm not shy, either, and definitely not quiet. I guess I'm kind of outgoing. My dad says I remind him of his cousin, Rachel. Always the one willing to do any suicidal stunt and always looking for a fight.  
  
Not that I'm stupidly dare-devilish. I'm not going to go BASE jumping just for the fun of it, but I'm brave when I need to be. I also inherited a characteristic from my dad. Leadership. If I had to name a talent, it's the ability of keeping a group organized and together.  
  
Now where were we?  
  
"Well, you should tell him," I suggested to Alexia.  
  
"What?"  
  
"He's right over there, with Jamie and Shawn."  
  
Let me explain. Nick is my 3rd cousin. He's the son of Jordan, Rachel's sister. He has brown hair and dark brown eyes. He looks a lot like my father does in pictures of him when he was our age.  
  
His best friend is a girl named Jamie. For some reason, I always thought it was cool that they had been best friends for so long and had never had one of those "Dawson's Creek" moments where they decided they wanted to be more than friends. Which was good for Alexia, since she'd had a major crush on him since God knows when.  
  
Jamie is somewhat short with chin length strawberry blonde hair and large, sparking green eyes. She's funny and smart and always seems to be smiling.  
  
And then there was Shawn. ((a/n: lol I just realized that "And then there was Shawn" is the title of my all time favorite episode of Boy Meets World. I didn't even know that when I wrote this. Lol just felt like sharing that with you. Back to the story))  
  
Shawn was always the one that was trailing behind. He was really sweet and quiet. Shy, too. He had messy blond hair and soft brown eyes. I had met my dad's friend Tobias a few times and heard stories about him from my dad. If anyone was exactly like Tobias, it was Shawn.  
  
I have to admit something. I had this strange… I guess you would call it an attraction, towards Shawn. Not that I had a crush on him. I wouldn't call it a crush. It felt more real than that. More compelling.  
  
"Oh my God! Do I look okay?" Alexia asked frantically.  
  
"Alex, you look great. As always," I assured her.  
  
"Hey guys," Jamie called when she was close enough.  
  
"Hi, Clarissa. Hi, Alex," Nick said.  
  
"Hey," I answered, giving Alex a nudge. She had been standing, as if hypnotized, staring a Nick.  
  
"Oh! Hi, Nick. What's going on?" she reacted, snapping out of her trance.  
  
"We were just gonna walk home through the construction site," Jamie answered for him.  
  
"I don't know about this, guys. When my dad did that with his friends, he ended up in a war with mind controlling aliens," I pointed out.  
  
Does this sound vaguely familiar yet? If not, I'll refresh your memory.  
  
Twenty-seven years ago, my father Jake and his four friends: Rachel, Marco, Cassie, and Tobias, took a short cut home from the mall through the abandoned construction site. To make a very long story short, they got the power to morph into any animal they touched to save the world from the Yeerks, aliens that infest other beings and take over their body. They called themselves the Animorphs.  
  
My dad and his friends defeated them, but with a great loss. My dad's cousin, Rachel, died in the Animorphs' last battle. She dies without ever seeing the free world she had fought so hard to achieve.  
  
"Come on Clarissa, that was 27 years ago. The site isn't abandoned anymore. Elfangor's memorial is all lit up and someone's usually there putting flowers or something," Nick persuaded.  
  
"Alright. Sure," I said nervously.  
  
It was weird. I wasn't used to being nervous. I was usually the brave one. But this was different. I mean… the way my dad had always told me about the construction site… my friends just didn't understand what it was like for your dad to be depressed and distant all the time. I guess I kind of blamed the construction site for it. That's where it had all started…  
  
"Don't worry, Clarissa," Shawn's soft, encouraging voice broke into my thoughts, snapping me back to reality,  
  
"Yeah, Rissa. Any aliens come along and I'll just head to the nearest phone booth and give your dad a call," Jamie joked, smiling.  
  
"Let's go," Nick said.  
  
And we headed towards the construction site. Dumb or smart, good thing or bad thing? I guess you'll have to be the judge.  
  
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A/N: It's kinda funny, looking back at this story. I think even though it's my first, it was my fav. Well, tied with me and my friend's Jurassic Park fic. Can you believe that thing got 60 sumthin reviews? I can't! lol. Anyway, please review this. It only got like 10 the first time I out it up. Thanx! :-) 


	3. Chapter Two Clarissa

A/N: just so there's no confusion, Alex and Alexia *are* the same person. So are Rissa and Clarissa. lol  
  
Chapter Two  
  
As I walked through the construction site by Alex and Shawn, I tried to shake off the feeling of da'jsavu that kept creeping up on me.  
  
"See, this isn't so bad," Nick spoke up. "There is nothing to be afraid of."  
  
"Hey! Who said I was afraid?" I snapped. I was in a bad mood. I was freaked out and jumpy, and that makes me angry.  
  
"No one, I just assumed-" he began,  
  
"Don't assume!"  
  
"Jeez, Rissa. Calm down before you have a heart attack. Nick didn't mean any harm," Alex reasoned. Nick shot her a grateful smile.  
  
"Sorry, Nick. I'm just kind of tense. I'm afraid I'll turn a corner and see some dying alien," I explained.  
  
From the corner of my eye, I saw Jamie mutter, "It will probably be dying because it assumed you were scared."  
  
I glared at her. "What?"  
  
"Nothing. Nothing at all."  
  
Shawn smiled a little and shook his head. He hadn't said much this whole time. He'd been spacing out. Staring at Elfangor's memorial as though it held a truth or key to his life. A loadstone calling him towards it.  
  
I didn't try to figure out what was going on with him. I couldn't have guessed. Not then, anyway.  
  
Elfangor's memorial was pretty cool. It was shaped like a UFO, and next to it was a small, sky blue box with Elfangor's name engraved in it, and a little message thanking him for giving hope to the planet. I swore that next to it there was a long tailed figure, but after a moment I shook my head and turned away.  
  
I focused on other thoughts. Like how weird it was to be here knowing that almost three decades ago, my father and his four friends had stood in this exact spot and their whole lives had changed. In those brief moments, they were forced to grow up an amount that most people don't mature in a lifetime.  
  
"Clarissa, are you okay?"  
  
I snapped out of it to see Shawn looking at me with concern. "I'm fine."  
  
"So, no aliens yet," Alex chirped. What was she so perky about?  
  
'Oh,' I thought, looking down. 'Nick is holding her hand.'  
  
That's when I noticed it. A sight more peculiar than my friends' sappiness.  
  
A shadowy figure in the distance.  
  
A girl.  
  
Nick noticed it too. "Who's that?"  
  
I squinted my eyes. "No clue."  
  
As we got closer, the girl's features became clearer. She looked about my age, but very tall. She had long, golden blonde hair and a confused expression on her face. .  
  
I knew in my heart who this wanderer was. I think Nick did, too. But no matter what my heat was telling me, my brain kept arguing, "No, that's impossible."  
  
All the same, I knew my heart was right.  
  
This girl, tall, blonde, and beautiful, was a girl who had been dead for twenty three years.  
  
The girl was Rachel Berenson. 


	4. Chapter Three Rachel

A/N: Thanx so much for the great reviews. They really push me to write more.  
  
Chapter 3  
  
*~ Rachel~*  
  
My name is Rachel. And for the past twenty-three years I'd been sure I was dead. But suddenly, here I am wandering aimlessly in the construction site with a thirteen year old body.  
  
The first thing I felt was confusion. In the blink of an eye I had been snatched from the vivid, vibrant landscape I had come to know as death, to the place which had originally sealed my fate.  
  
Everything was flowing back. Distantly, I could recall scenes of the place as it was the night Elfangor's ship had crashed. The shadow covered buildings, only half finished and crumbling, the musty, stale scent all around us, the misty air filled with dust and remnant smoke from the bonfires of passer-bys. . The site had a story to tell of each traveler who had walked through, each fire lit, and each party thrown. The litter scattered about the ground told the story to anyone willing to listen.  
  
One tale, though, would remain engraved in the atmosphere of the area forever.  
  
Ours.  
  
The story of five innocent kids whose need for the extra twenty minutes we'd have to talk on the phone or watch T.V. or go online if we took a shortcut instead of the safe way home. A decision that would haunt us for all time, even after death. I can tell you that because I've been there.  
  
Thinking of all this, I wondered where my friends were now. Jake, Cassie, Marco, and Tobias…Tobias! Right then I wanted to see him so badly. But I knew I had been sent here for a reason, and it was not to catch up on childhood relationships.  
  
That's when the group caught my eye. A group of five teenagers, probably about the age I was when I walked through here that night…or the age I am now…whatever. As they approached, I saw that one looked just like Jake and another looked shockingly like Tobias.  
  
"Jake…Tobias?" I whispered.  
  
A girl with dark brown hair answered my question. "No. That's Nick and Shawn. And you are Rachel," she commented, the last sentence sounding more like a question than a statement.  
  
"How do you know my name?" I demanded, feeling my old self, Xena Warrior Princess, returning.  
  
"Why are you back from the dead?" a girl with strawberry blonde hair retaliated. I laughed a little. That had sounded like a comment Marco would make.  
  
"Look, I'm Clarissa Berenson. These are my friends, Jamie, Shawn, and Alexia. And my cousin, Nick."  
  
"Berenson…you're…you're…" I couldn't bring myself to say it. I was overwhelmed by shock.  
  
"Jake's daughter. And Nick is Jordan's son," Clarissa finished.  
  
That surprised me as well. "Jordan's *what*? You're telling me that little squirt had kids?"  
  
Clarissa sighed. "You wanna tell us what you're doing here? This is so cool."  
  
I liked this girl. Here was something about her that reminded me of… me.  
  
"Honestly, I don't know why I'm here. But I bet you're dad could figure it out. Can you take me to your house?"  
  
"Umm…sure," Clarissa answered.  
  
"Wait, Rissa. We're dealing with a ghost here. Should we try and maybe slow things down a little?" the girl named Alexia suggested, sounding a lot like Cassie.  
  
"Where is your sense of adventure?" Clarissa and I exclaimed in unison. It was like we had one brain. We all laughed a little nervously then Clarissa spoke up again.  
  
"We should plan this out though. I mean, it might creep my dad out a little if he sees his long dead cousin suddenly waltz into the living room."  
  
Shawn sent her a very Tobias-like smile.  
  
"Oh, great. Here she goes with the leadership and organization thing," Nick complained jokingly. He may have looked like Jake, but looks can be deceiving I guess.  
  
"Shut up, Nick," Clarissa slapped him playfully.  
  
Jamie interrupted their joking with one of her own. "So, we are gonna walk into your house and say 'Dad, I'm having my friend Rachel over. Oh yeah, and did I mention she's your dead cousin?'"  
  
"Ha ha. How about this: I talk to him first. Make sure he's in a good mood, not to hyped up about anything, then I signal when he seems okay and you guys bring her in."  
  
"Okay," we all agreed.  
  
We headed down the dirt road to Clarissa's house. 


	5. Chapter Four Clarissa

A/N: This chap was a little hard to write. It's kinda difficult to figure out what Jake's reaction would be to seeing Rachel again, but I did my best. Tell me whatcha think.  
  
Chapter Four  
  
*~Clarissa~*  
  
I stepped quietly into my living room. My dad was lounging in the large navy arm chair, reading a book with only the dim glow of a small lamp illuminating the room.  
  
"Dad?" I spoke softly. He looked up from his book and smiled at me.  
  
"Hi, Honey. Have a good time at the mall? Did you buy out the store again?" he joked.  
  
I laughed a little forcedly. "Yeah…um, Dad? Can I ask you something?"  
  
Putting the book down, he looked at me hard, prepared to give "fatherly advice." "Yes?"  
  
"Well…I know you don't like to talk about…her…but, I mean…w-what if…what if you…" I couldn't find the words. What do you say to your father right before he in reunited with his dead cousin? One who he had blamed himself for killing for the past twenty something years? I hadn't exactly had experience in this area. I cleared my throat and tried again. "What if you could somehow…see Rachel again?"  
  
My dad looked shocked. Shocked, a little hurt maybe, and mostly guilty. He seemed to understand though, like he figured that I'd start asking questions about her at some time or another. "I guess…I guess I would tell her how unbelievably sorry I am. It was my fault that she died. I sent her to Tom. It was my fault…all my fault…" he stared off into space and muttered the last words distantly. His lips parted again and he whispered, to no one in particular, "Would she forgive me?"  
  
I signaled to Nick and the others with a slight wave of my hand.  
  
"I do forgive you Jake. I wish you'd stop blaming yourself for this already. How many times must everyone tell you that it wasn't your fault and you did what you had to do before you start believing it?" Rachel demanded.  
  
My father spun around immediately.  
  
"R-Ra…Ra…Rachel?" he stuttered, rising slowly from his chair. He found that he was too weak from shock and plopped back down, slumping. "Rachel! How…how did you…what's…Ellimist? Rachel?" he couldn't form sentences. His face was shocked into an expression of surprise, fear, excitement, and terror.  
  
"Jake! Jake, calm down. It's just me. I know this is weird. I don't really know what's going on. But you need to calm down. Now," Rachel coached.  
  
"Rachel…" my dad began again. "I'm so sorry!"  
  
"Didn't I already forgive you? Like 10 times?"  
  
"Rachel…what are you doing here??" my father exclaimed again.  
  
"We don't know!" the rest of us answered at once.  
  
Shawn spoke up, which doesn't seem to happen often. "This is scary, Mr. Berenson. But we don't know any more than you do. And it would be best if we all calmed down and tried to figure this out." We all turned to look at him. He blushed a little and shrugged.  
  
"Okay, okay…" my dad said, his forehead crinkling in thought. "Maybe it was the Ellimist."  
  
IT WAS NOT ME. WELL, NOT IN ITS ENTIRETY. A voice…or something…broke through the confused silence.  
  
"Ahhh! What was that?" I screamed. The "voice" had seemed to explode in my head. Like fireworks, they burst and the words had become clear. I can't even find the right words to describe it. My friends had heard it too. They were turning their heads around the room frantically, searching for the source of the words.  
  
"That was the Ellimist. In the war he gave us a few hard times," my father explained. His tone of voice told me that this Ellimist wasn't his favorite person…or whatever…to be around.  
  
"Yeah, nice hearing from you again, Ellimist. But could you tell me why this has turned into the Night of the Living Dead?" Rachel snapped.  
  
I'LL DO MY BEST TO EXPLAIN, RACHEL. I'LL EVOLVE TO MY HUMAN FORM FIRST. The voice again.  
  
Suddenly, a figure appeared. It was human- like, but it was glowing blue. It had pointed ears, like an elf, and long white hair.  
  
"Yoda come in peace," Jamie muttered.  
  
"I'd like to explain what is going on, but it is somewhat difficult to comprehend. I request that all of you are together. This concerns the other Animorphs as well. Including Aximilli," the creature called Ellimist said. "I will take you to them."  
  
"I know this is a mistake. I just know it. But I'm going along with it. I know you wouldn't go through all of this for no reason, Ellimist," Dad reasoned. "I'll follow you to get Cassie. Clarissa, Honey, go with a friend and the Ellimist will take you to Ax. Your other friends will find Marco. And Rachel?"  
  
"Yeah, Jake?"  
  
"Tobias."  
  
Despite all that was going on, Rachel smiled. "Wow, Jake. You've still got it," she teased, referring to his leadership skill.  
  
"Thanks," he replied.  
  
I looked over and saw that Jamie, Nick, and Alexia were already in a little group.  
  
"Well, I guess it's you and me, Shawn. Going to find an alien."  
  
"Yeah," he echoed. "You and me."  
  
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A/N: okay, being that I'm a hardcore Rachel/ Tobias fan, I totally needed to work some of their adolescent sap into the story. But since Tobias is no longer an adolescent (yet…hint hint) I'll have to use Clarissa and Shawn for now. Mwahahaha. Lol. Review! Thanx. 


	6. Chapter Five Jamie

A/N: Yay, thanx for all the reviews. I know, I know. This story goes a little slow. Things won't be explained till like chapter 7, but I think it's kinda cool to leave people wondering. Makes em wanna keep reading, right? Lol. Anywayz, enjoy and keep the reviews coming.  
  
Chapter Five  
  
*~Jamie~*  
  
I was in Clarissa's living room. Or, I had been a second ago. Now I was standing confused on a pavement driveway staring up at a huge white mansion.  
  
Alexia looked at me. I looked at Nick. Nick looked at Alexia and we all shrugged, not quite sure of what to do. Finally, Alexia took a deep breath and ventured towards the pure white door. She knocked loudly on the golden door knocker and a moment later, it creaked open.  
  
"Yeeeeeeeesssssss?" the man, obviously the butler, croaked in a drawn out manner.  
  
"Umm, is there a Marco here?" Alexia questioned nervously.  
  
"Yes, who shall I inform him is here?" he inquired, bored.  
  
Nick stepped up. "We're friends of Jake."  
  
The butler nodded, only slightly impressed. Jeez, this guy was a real penguin. "I'll retrieve him." With that, he spun back on the heel of his shiny black shoe and walked back into the house, his heels echoing on the marble floor.  
  
We waited in silence for an impatient five minutes, when suddenly out waddled a small white poodle.  
  
You are friends of Jake? a sound in my head rang out. I knew it was crazy, but it seemed to be coming from the poodle. Then again, after this whole thing, who was I to put guidelines on what was crazy? This must be Marco in morph.  
  
"Uhh…yeah," I replied to the poodle's question.  
  
Alright. Hang on please.  
  
"What should I hang on to?" I joked. Marco morphed human and I tried not to vomit in the process.  
  
When he was finished, he smirked. "I'll have you know that I am the master of corny jokes. And I'd give that about a three on the comedic scale."  
  
"Excuse me, but you're like what? Forty? Isn't that a bit old to be rating corny jokes?"  
  
"Very funny. So who are you guys and why are you here?"  
  
"I'm Jamie," I stated, then pointed to my friends. "This is Alexia and this is Nick. The Ellimist sent us here. It's kind of a long story. Just come with us," I urged.  
  
"The Ellimist? As in, funky looking blue dude with cat ears and light bulb skin? As in, if I go with you I'll have to reside to the suicidal life that I've been so relieved to live without for the past twenty something years? As in, are you insane?!"  
  
"Marco, we know this is weird. But you have to trust us. The Ellimist said this could affect all our lives, even yours," Alexia pleaded in that calm, convincing voice of hers. There was no arguing with that voice.  
  
"Well…okay," Marco agrees uneasily.  
  
And just like that, we were back in Clarissa's living room. Jake was returned from his trip also, standing by an African American woman with dark brown eyes. I noticed a tension between them, as though uncomfortable to even be within a foot of each other. Though I didn't know why that was, I assumed this was Cassie.  
  
Marco, Jake, and Cassie talked quietly for a while, catching up. I wondered why Cassie flinched when Jake mentioned he had a daughter, but I figured it was none of my business.  
  
So I sat back and talked with my friends while we waited for Shawn and Clarissa, who seemed to have no concept of time. I wondered what was taking them so long, but then, that was none of my business either. 


	7. Chapter Six Shawn

**A/N: Just a warning, Shawn's story is VERY confusing. I've tried to make it as clear as possible, but it was hard. If you don't understand, just ask. Lol. Oh, and I'm very sorry I didn't update for a while. I've been busy with my Alias stories. Read them if you have the chance. Please? Lol. ****J**

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**            *~Shawn~***

**            When Clarissa and I suddenly found ourselves in a large, metallic structure propelling through space 180,000 miles away from Earth, I had a good idea why. The Ellimist was taking us to Ax. **

We were standing in a room deprived of people, but I figured must have been some type of lounge because odd, creamy colored chair like structures were sitting in each corner of the room. Holographic, vivid paintings of unfamiliar, disoriented creatures hung about the walls. Through the single window, we could see nothing but a vast plain of stars and more stars against the midnight black sky.

            Clarissa glanced around quickly, and I'm pretty sure a small panic rose in her as she examined her surroundings. Being herself, she didn't show it. "So where do we go?"

            "I'm not sure," I answered, searching for a clue or anything to lead us to Ax.

            "Let's try through there,' she suggested, pointed to a tall steel door that I hadn't noticed. I nodded and we headed towards the door. Looking closely at it, I noticed that there was no knob. There was no handle or security key pad. Nothing that could let us into the room. 

            "Great. How does this thing open?" Clarissa wondered. 

            "I have an idea," I replied, not really wanting to demonstrate it. I was pretty sure my idea would work, but it was something I had never shared with anyone. The only one who knew about it was my own dad and I had tried to keep it a secret from everyone else. 

            _Damn it, Shawn. Just do it. You can't hide it forever. _

_            Finally, I focused on a picture in my head. Quickly, bluish tan fur sprouted from my skin. My fingers grew longer and two extra ones sprouted up. My mouth and nose disappeared and were replaced with three vertical slits. I toppled over as my feet turned to hooves and two more legs grew out from my chest. A tail, ended in a curved spike, extended out. Finally, with a sickening __whoosh, two eyes shpt up out of the top of my head. I was Andilite. _

            Clarissa, who had been staring at me in utter horror and shock during the whole time, stuttered out, "Y- you….you can morph!"

            It's a long story. I'll explain later. 

            "O-o….k"

            I touched my seven fingered hand to the door and it opened instantly. I morphed back to human before stepping inside. The door led us through a small, steel corridor and into what must have been a control room. It was huge and spherical, and about ten Andilites stood around it, pushing buttons and turning wheels.

            "Um, excuse me. We're looking for an Aximilli Esgarrouth Isthill."

            That is me. One of the Andilites turned a stalk eye to look at me. Tobias?

            "No, this is Shawn. And I'm Clarissa. I know this is weird, but you have to come with us," Clarissa explained. I was glad she answered the question about who I was. I didn't feel like explaining the truth right now. 

            Who sent you? Why are you here for me?

            "We're…friends of Jake. I'm actually his daughter. The Ellimist sent us here to get you. We're not sure why, but he's reuniting all of the Animorphs."

            All of them?

            "_All of them.'_

            Ax looked back at the other Andilites, who seemed to be taking no notice of what was going on. Maybe they were used to visitors dropping by like this. Maybe they just didn't care. ((A/N: it suddenly occurred to me that none of the Andilites are curious as to how the humans even got into the room if the door only allowed Andilites. Let's just say they figured that the kids had been transported to the corridor, therefore never needed to go through the door.)) 

            Curious, but very well. I'll need to complete my duties here first, however. Give me one of your earth hours, Ax said. 

            "Okay, sure. We'll just wait out here," Clarissa told him, gesturing towards the empty room through the corridor. She grabbed my arm and pulled me through. 

            "Alright, Shawn. You've got a lot of explaining to do," she demanded, her blue eyes gleaming. "How the hell can you morph?!"

            "Okay! Okay! Jeez! I'm getting there. You know how Jake is your father and Nick's cousin?" I began carefully. 

            "So?"

            "Well, I've got some close connections to the Animorphs, too. I'll tell you the whole story, if you're up for it."

            "Definitely," she answered quickly. 

            "Okay. Well, Tobias was a hawk, as you know. A while ago he…you know…had baby hawks. Then, that same year, his hawk body began to die. It was very old by then, older than the average hawk lives. He decided to become a human nothlit rather than die as a hawk. But he wanted something to remind him of the life he'd come to love so much. So, he took one of his baby hawks and raised it for a while as a pet," I paused for a moment to see if Clarissa was getting anything yet. Of course she wasn't, though. I was being much too vague. 

            "Go on," she urged. 

            "Okay. So, one day, the Ellimist paid Tobias a visit. He told him that since he'd already given back his morphing powers once, he wouldn't again. But he wanted to do something for Tobias so that he wouldn't be so lonely anymore. So, he changed his baby hawk into a human. I guess the Ellimist wanted Tobias to always have a reminder of what he used to be, so he gave the baby hawk Tobias's DNA and the morphing power. Get it? Tobias's baby hawk acquired his own father's baby DNA and morphed into him. He's been living that way ever since. He's grown up to look exactly like Tobias in every way. And he still has the morphing power that the Ellimist gave him as a gift."

            Clarissa was beginning to take all this in. For a moment, she stared at me blankly. Then, her clear blue eyes lit up with realization. "Which would have to mean…" she whispered.

            "Right," I finished for her. "I'm Tobias's son."

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A/N: We knew Shawn was hiding something the whole time, didn't we? Lol. Wondering why he hid something like that? You'll find out if you stay tuned for the next chapter. And we've got some Clarissa/ Shawn sap coming up! Hehe. 


	8. Chapter Seven Clarissa

A/N: It's been... a while. lol. I'll finish uploading all the chapters I've written, I guess, but just a warning: I never totally finished and I don't plan to. I'm just not as into this anymore... I'm sorry! Hope you like what I have anyway. :-D  
  
Chapter 7  
  
*~Clarissa~* "Does anyone else know? Besides you and your dad I mean." I asked.  
  
"No, but I think it's safe to assume they'll find out tonight." he said flatly.  
  
"Shawn, are you ok? You seem kind of upset."  
  
"I'm ok.... it's just, well I don't like thinking about my past." he admitted.  
  
"Why? I think it's kind of cool." I told him truthfully.  
  
"Clarissa, think about it. I'm not real. I'm not human. All I am is a copy of someone else," he said.  
  
I looked straight into his eyes. "Shawn, yes. You have someone else's appearance. But you are your own person. You have your own thoughts and feelings. All that's the same is your looks and looks aren't important," I said softly.  
  
"But I'm not human," he repeated, "I'm a bird." He turned away. I put my hand on his shoulder and he spun around.  
  
"Truthfully Shawn, you are a lot less bird than your father was, whether you realize it or not. He lived for almost 15 years as a bird. You lived less than one. You don't even remember being a bird. You were raised and brought up as a human. That may not make you human by blood, but by everything else it does. And besides," I continued, softening my tone a little, "to me, you are still Shawn. You are still a nice, sweet guy. You are still Shawn."  
  
He smiled a little weakly. "Thanks"  
  
We stood staring for a moment, and then he took my hand. I smiled at him. If it were any other guy I would have slapped him, but it wasn't any other guy. ((lol there's the "awww isn't the cute moment")) For about 15 minutes we stood holding hands and saying nothing.  
  
Suddenly, Ax walked in breaking the silence. Shawn and I separated quickly, embarrassed.  
  
"Hey" I said.  
  
"Well I'm his daughter, Clarissa. And this is Shawn, which I said already."  
  
I didn't say anything else about Shawn. If he wanted to tell, he would. "Tobias's son," Shawn said. I winked at him.  
  
"I guess the same way we got here." I answered. And just at that moment we were back in my living room. It looked like the only people not yet there were Rachel and Tobias.  
  
While we waited, Alex and Jamie called their parents and told them they were sleeping over my house. Nick called his mom and said he would be staying here for a family get-together or something. Erik, Jake, Marco, and Cassie talked nervously about what was going on, and mixed in some chat about what they had been doing in the past years.  
  
Alex, Nick, and Jamie came back from the phone saying their parents had bought the stories. Alex and Nick sat down together and Shawn and I sat in the couch across from them.  
  
Jamie plopped into an armchair, making remarks about being the only one in this insane adventure not in a relationship with someone else in the group. The other four of us protested about being "just friends." We were acting like normal teenagers, but hidden beneath that normal conversation, we knew we never would be again. 


End file.
